


Audio Logs

by Rayli_Pines



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not stancest - Freeform, Other, Platonic Relationships, Stangst, dont consider it as such, mabel and dipper are only mentioned, please, this entire thing is just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayli_Pines/pseuds/Rayli_Pines
Summary: It wasn’t a particularly busy day. Stan was counting dollar bills at the cash register, Mabel was knitting another sweater, Dipper was chewing another pen while flipping through Journal 1, and Ford was down in the basement, working on a private project. Thankfully, the two Stan twins were not avoiding each other like they would’ve done a week or so ago since both had apologized and said what needed to be said. But secrets are deeper than some words, and the twins certainly hadn’t gone to full detail when discussing their situations. Therefore, it was inevitable that there were some things not yet touched upon but still found by the other eventually.
Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	Audio Logs

**Author's Note:**

> ooookay, this fic is hella old, but i thought i should post something here. sorry for anything ooc or cringy, keep in mind this was made a year ago when i was just starting to write. i modified some things here and there to make it less painful to read. my account is really dead right now, but i hope y'all don't mind. anyways, time to live up to the "pines" in my username and post something gravity falls related! enjoy! or don't, i guess.  
> btw i changed up some things from the canon gravity falls universe. in this universe, ford and stan reconcile quite a bit earlier, before weirdmageddon. sorry if that's confusing.

It wasn’t a particularly busy day. Stan was counting dollar bills at the cash register, Mabel was knitting another sweater, Dipper was chewing another pen while flipping through Journal 1, and Ford was down in the basement, working on a private project. Thankfully, the two Stan twins were not avoiding each other like they would’ve done a week or so ago since both had apologized and said what needed to be said. But secrets are deeper than some words, and the twins certainly hadn’t gone to full detail when discussing their situations. Therefore, it was inevitable that there were some things not yet touched upon but still found by the other eventually. 

Stanley set down the stack of money on the counter and walked into the living room absentmindedly, intending to sink into the sofa behind him before he noticed a very small box-shaped object sitting on the television. His curiosity seemed to overpower his laziness that day, so he took the tiny device into his hand and studied it closely; It seemed to be around a few centimeters thick and made of some sort of metal. It wasn’t overly shiny or anything like it, so he had no idea why it caught his eye in the first place; perhaps he was just more aware of his surroundings that day. 

As he ran his finger across the metal, he noticed that there was a small lid on the box and flipped it open. Inside was a clear, black piece of glass, and as Stan looked through the glass, he saw little wires and circuits and more parts that he didn’t know the names of. It looked rather techy, so he figured it was something that Ford had made. 

While studying its features for a little while longer, his finger accidentally brushed against the glass. Suddenly, a hologram popped out, projected by the tech underneath the tiny, black window. The hologram spelled out a couple of Atbash Cipher words, which Stan had already seen in his brother’s journals and therefore, already knew how to decipher them. He tried to ignore the slight pride he felt at being able to read Ford’s ‘nerdy codes’.

“‘Tap once to play logs,” he slowly read aloud as he decoded the text, “Double-tap to create a new log’? What kind of sci-fi shit is this?”

Despite his conscience telling him to just flip the lid back on and put the metal box back on the TV, his curiosity, again, got the better of him, and he tapped once to see the logs. 

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, right?

The hologram showed rows of logs, all labeled with simple numbers and no descriptions. Typical. 

‘Tap once to play all, tap twice to scroll through all logs individually.’ it read. He groaned at the thought of having to scroll through all those numbers and simply tapped the black glass once.

“Log one,” came Ford’s voice from the box, no projections or hologram with it, just his voice. “It’s been around two months since I fell into the portal. I’ve been given a dimensional translator so that I may freely communicate with other species. My continuing mission: find out a way to destroy Bill Cipher, once and for all. He’s taken everything from me... and I intend to return the favor.” The recording cut off. That last sentence was spoken with a certain bitterness and acidity that Stan had never heard in his life. 

Bill Cipher, huh? That sounded oddly familiar... 

“Log two,” his twin’s familiar voice came back in, although this time, sounding hoarse and dry. “I’ve been stuck in these dungeons of the finger dimension for days... this is purely, utterly ridiculous. The hierarchy is idiotic. Just because someone has more fingers doesn’t mean the previous ruler is thrown into a cold, dank prison! Ugh, I wish I had just moved on. This is what I get for my prideful mind. I hope I’m released soon..”

The logs continued on and on, and Stan leaned back in his seat as he listened to his brother rant about something called the M dimension, something about parallels, and more. At that point, he was close to just turning off the device and getting back to watching The Duchess Approves, but then, another log played. 

This one was... different. It didn’t even have an introduction of “Log 17,” or the like.

“I just... I want to go home,” Stanford breathed shakily through the recording, “I miss my Earth. God, god, it hurts.. why can’t everything just go back to the way it was? Make the pain stop.. please, make it s-stop. Let me start over…” A bitter chuckle was heard. “Great, I’m s-so mentally unstable that I’m t-t-talking to a metal box. I.. I’m sorry, Fiddleford. I’m sorry Stanley. I’m sure I’ll never get to say it to you guys f-face-to-face..”

Another log started up, despite Stan’s every instinct telling him to shut it off.

“Everything hurts. I can’t breathe, I can’t, I can’t—” Heavy gasping and hiccups. He was crying. “Why am I so stupid? I have to keep going, but I don’t want to. Let me sleep, please, let me rest..!” A thick swallow. “Leave me alone... just _get out of my head_..!!”

Another log. 

_ Okay, that's enough, Stanley. _

He shut the lid on top of the log recording box and tossed it against the wall. His heart was thrumming in his ribcage and his breaths were sharp and hasty. 

_ What kind of hell did you go through, Ford? _

**‘Go check on him, right now. He could be hurt,’** his brain whispered, and he did just that. He grabbed the box from the floor, ran as fast as he could with trembling legs, input the code to the vending machine, and scrambled down the stairs, internally wishing that the elevator was faster. The elevator dinged and Stanley ran into Ford’s study. 

“Ford..!” he called breathlessly, gripping the tiny metal device harder than he intended. “Ford, are you—”

“Yes, Stanley?” his brother responded, his eyes fixated on scribbling in a new journal entry. “Did you need something?”

Stan swallowed. How could he tell his brother that he ran all the way down here because of some illogical paranoia and worry? And how would he explain that he listened to Ford’s (quite possibly and most likely) private audio logs? That’d sound stupid, not to mention inconsiderate...

Stanford looked up from his work and joined his eyebrows together in worry when he saw his twin. He was sweating, breathing heavily, and had a very vulnerable looking expression of guilt on his face. 

“Stanley..? Did something happen..?” he asked, concern still glued onto his face.

The younger twin couldn’t speak. His voice had gone— not literally, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t seem to find the right words to explain. So, he simply stepped out of the elevator and handed his twin the log recorder, hoping his brother wouldn’t be mad. Ford’s eyes widened. 

“Where was it?” he whispered as he accepted the device, holding it in his polydactyly hand and staring at it worriedly. 

“On top of the TV,” Stan finally managed to speak after a moment, “I guess you left it there.”

The six-fingered sibling sighed, tearing his eyes away from the box to glance up at his twin. “And I’m guessing that you heard all of my logs..?”

“About eighteen of ‘em, actually,” he paused, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “Ford, what happened in the portal..? What the hell did you go through for you to—”

He couldn’t even finish that sentence as he choked on a sob. Words refused to work yet again, so he settled for a trembling sigh. His brother didn’t say anything, silently setting the metal object down on his desk.

“...Stan, I’m sorry that you had to hear me like that,” he said quietly, getting up from his chair. “And... thank you... for saving me from those times. I literally wouldn’t be here without your help, and I’m also sorry for holding a stupid grudge for so long.”

“Yeah,” Stan replied just as quietly, eyes directed at the floor, not daring to look at his brother, “I heard your apology. In the logs. I guess you didn’t always hate me, huh?”

The younger of the two twins felt the other’s hand on his shoulder. He still couldn’t bring himself to look up. 

“Lee,” Ford’s voice was firm, yet somehow gentle, “I never, ever hated you. I can’t hate you even if I tried. And believe me, I did attempt to, as dumb as that sounds. I thought it’d be easier to hate you and move on, but it didn’t work.”

The two Pines twins finally made eye-contact.

“I guess we’re not so different, huh?” Stanley asked, a weak grin making itself known on his lips.

Stanford chuckled warmly, returning the smile. “I guess not,” he agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> haha, ANGST!   
> damn why do i enjoy torturing my fav characters?  
> eh whatever, at least i made them have a happy bonding moment(?)  
> hope you liked that piece of garbage that i call a fanfiction!  
> if there's any mistake with grammar or misspelling, PLEASE tell me. it will bother me until the day i die.


End file.
